Bridgespan 2021 Annual Report

To our friends and colleagues…

We are pleased to share a few reflections and updates on Bridgespan’s work in 2021. As a global nonprofit that strives to make the world more equitable and just, we make an impact by advising and collaborating with social change leaders—philanthropists, impact investors, and leaders of nonprofits, NGOs, and movements.

At times of great disruption, organizations emerge in different places than they entered—some weaker and less relevant, some stronger and more relevant, but hardly any the same. In 2021, navigating continued disruption from a global pandemic and renewed demands for racial justice in the United States, Bridgespan strived to be relevant and of service. We had the privilege of supporting a wide range of effective leaders and organizations to emerge stronger as they tackle some of the globe’s greatest challenges.

Since our founding in 2000, Bridgespan has worked with both nonprofits and funders, and 2021 was no exception. This is core to our theory of change, as it allows us to help both kinds of social change leaders achieve greater impact. We work to perform a vital bridging function across the sector—ensuring that we are supporting and learning with and from our nonprofit clients. We are able to translate lessons from those on the front line to philanthropists and lessons from our philanthropic work to nonprofit leaders. We are more responsible advisors to each because we understand the fuller picture.

As you will see in this report, in 2021, we have leaned into supporting organizations and collaboratives—both funders and nonprofits—doing powerful and important work on racial equity in the US, climate change, democracy, and gender. We have been able to help donors source and structure funding for all these issues, and helped nonprofit leaders design ambitious and innovative plans that increase their impact and create momentum. For example, we worked with PolicyLink on its Winning on Equity Campaign—a cross-sector, nation-building effort to advance the equity movement and redesign the nation so that it works for all, starting with people of color.

We also understand that working with both funders and nonprofits requires us to take extra care to manage potential conflicts of interest and are disciplined about how we do so. Our boundaries are quite simple: we do not share confidential information or intentions from any client with another. In addition, we do not provide fundraising services. These basic policies allow work in trusted and confidential relationship with our clients and facilitate the important field-level insights that help both donors and doers craft and execute their strategies.

One important shift over the last several years in how Bridgespan achieves impact is that, while we continue to work with some of the largest and best-known nonprofits and NGOs, most of the organizations we now engage through our Asia-based Bridgespan Nonprofit Development Program, Bridgespan Leadership Accelerator, and Leading for Impact (LFI) programs, are the smaller local and regional nonprofits that form the backbone of the sector. A recently completed independent, multiyear evaluation of LFI demonstrates that this work has a lasting impact on executive team capabilities and effectiveness. Over three-quarters of respondents (79 percent) agreed that LFI supported improvements in their executive team’s effectiveness, even years after completing the program. The program also shows promise for positively impacting leaders’ career trajectories, with the greatest impact being reported by leaders of color.

As Bridgespan becomes an increasingly global organization—with offices in Mumbai, Johannesburg (and in 2022, Singapore) alongside our US-based teams—we can identify a wider range of best practices and innovative ideas to share with the social sector. More and more, we are expanding the scope of our knowledge work to incorporate global insights and collaborations. For example, a 2021 report developed in collaboration with the African Philanthropy Forum, drew on interviews with more than 60 stakeholders and a survey with 50 respondents to demonstrate that African NGOs receive only a small portion of African and global philanthropy and make the case for more funding for Africa-based NGOs.

The work that Bridgespan was able to support in 2021 inspires us with the possibility of what social change leaders and civil society can achieve. Of course, the problems we are collectively wrestling to address are large and complex. Too many potential philanthropic resources are still on the sidelines, and some of the best ideas to create justice and impact are struggling to be recognized. While we work in a deeply flawed world and a very imperfect ecosystem for social change, we keep working to bring all our capabilities to bear on making leaders and organizations stronger and the world around us better, more just, and more equitable.

In the following pages, please enjoy the stories of and information on some of the work we had the opportunity to provide in 2021.

Warmly,

• Valued for their unique experiences and strengths and knows their identities will be seen, respected, and protected from bias.
• Connected through supportive, authentic relationships, including across lines of differences.
• Thriving, in that they have meaningful opportunities to contribute and grow and can sustain their impact over time without sacrificing self and community care.
• Equipped to resist, combat, and heal from the impacts of systemic oppression and to advance equity in their role.

Bridgespan has also deepened its commitment to DEI through an investment in an expanded DEI team. In 2021, we appointed Raël Nelson James as our first Head of Equity and Olivia Peoples as the lead for racial equity external work. The team has plans to further invest in expansion, including dedicated team members to be based in the Mumbai and South Africa offices to lead our equity journey in those respective offices.